LONDON/MILAN, March 16 (Reuters) - Italian oil major Eni hiked its dividend on Friday and held out the prospect of a share buyback after promising higher growth in production and more cash. Eni was the first oil major to cut its dividend three years ago after a steep decline in the oil price forced the industry to tighten its belt.

The Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A, RDS-B), which has its U.S. arm in Houston, announced March 15 that it’s exiting New Zealand in a $578 million deal. OMV, an international integrated oil and gas company based in Vienna, will buy Shell’s interests in its upstream New Zealand entities . The Financial Times reports that Shell has been operating in New Zealand for more than a century.

Royal Dutch Shell has called it quits in New Zealand after more than a century operating in the country. The oil giant has agreed to sell its interests in New Zealand to Austrian group OMV for $578m. The ...

Amnesty International on Friday accused international oil majors Shell and Eni of negligence when addressing spills in Nigeria. Describing their actions as "serious negligence", Amnesty said the companies were "taking weeks to respond to reports of spills and publishing misleading information about the cause and severity of spills, which may result in communities not receiving compensation". A Shell spokesman said Amnesty's allegations "are false, without merit and fail to recognise the complex environment in which the company operates".

Amnesty International on Friday accused international oil majors Shell (RDSa.L) and Eni (ENI.MI) of negligence when addressing spills in Nigeria. Describing their actions as "serious negligence", Amnesty said the companies were "taking weeks to respond to reports of spills and publishing misleading information about the cause and severity of spills, which may result in communities not receiving compensation". A Shell spokesman said Amnesty's allegations "are false, without merit and fail to recognise the complex environment in which the company operates".

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA may have misled regulators in Nigeria by wrongly attributing oil spills to theft and sabotage in order to avoid paying compensation to affected communities, rights group ...

"Today's announcement is another step towards reshaping and simplifying our company," Shell's Integrated Gas & New Energies Director Maarten Wetselaar said. Thursday's agreement includes the sale of Māui, Pohokura and Tank Farms. After deal closure, Shell Taranaki and Shell New Zealand employees will become a part of OMV New Zealand, Shell said.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is selling its upstream assets in New Zealand to Austria's OMV AG for $578 million, the companies said on Thursday. "Today's announcement is another step towards reshaping and simplifying our company," Shell's Integrated Gas & New Energies Director Maarten Wetselaar said. Thursday's agreement includes the sale of Māui, Pohokura and Tank Farms.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is selling stake in its New Zealand entities to OMV AG for $578 million, the company said on Thursday. Shell has sold or agreed to sell over $25 billion of assets as part of a three-year ...

(Adds detail on LNG trade economics, tightening Europe-Asia spread, cargo arrivals) By Oleg Vukmanovic LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Falling Asian gas prices are reigniting interest in northwest Europe as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) destination following winter shortages as Russia and the United States step up deliveries. Price swings prompted Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday to divert the first shipment from the new Cove Point export plant in the United States away from Asia to Britain. More supply from Russia's newly built plant in Siberia at Yamal is likely to be absorbed by northwest Europe as arbitrage opportunities with Asia dry up amid a post-winter price slump there, trade sources said.

The U.S. trading arm of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSa.L) urged regulators to stick to their ruling denying Magellan Midstream Partners permission to form a marketing affiliate, saying the move would undercut other oil shippers. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in November denied a proposal by Magellan (MMP.N) to create a marketing affiliate to buy, sell and ship crude oil, on grounds it would essentially be offering pipeline space "below cost" which is against the law. The companies contend that the request raised broader issues that could jeopardise the existing structure of oil trading on pipelines.

The first tanker of liquefied natural gas to depart a new facility on the US east coast has changed course mid-Atlantic and is heading for the UK, the day after questions were raised in Westminster about ...

Royal Dutch Shell is close to bagging a deal to supply Hong Kong with liquefied natural gas (LNG), beating out major competitors for the right to be the first company to supply LNG to the city. Shell has edged out companies such as Malaysia's Petronas to supply LNG through a long-term contract to Hong Kong utility CLP Power, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Hong Kong is undertaking a massive shift to using more natural gas to fuel its electric power generation from coal, potentially creating a steady and lucrative demand source in the Asian LNG market.

Nigeria's Guaranty Trust Bank (GUARANT.LG) and a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) have granted a $270 million (193.23 million pounds) loan to independent Nigerian oil and gas producer Amni International, Amni told Reuters on Thursday. The terms of loan will give Shell Western Supply and Trading sole access to the 16,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil the company pumps in two fields off Nigeria's oil-rich Delta region. Production at offshore fields, including Amni's Ima and Okoro/Setu, is difficult to maintain, but Amni said the loan would allow them to further develop the fields.

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden saw his total remuneration in 2017 rise to 8.9 million euros (7.88 million pounds) from 8.6 million the previous year. Van Beurden became ...

Energy has had a tough start to 2018, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) off more than 6% year-to-date. Yet there's no shortage of optimism that the sector can turn around, from oilfield services and ...

Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer of crude, is hitting a roadblock in the next phase of expanding its oil production capacity as the appetite of international energy firms for investing in the country's low-return environment slackens. Having slashed production targets in 2013 and 2014, most international oil firms in Iraq are revising their oilfields' plateau production levels even lower, and the discussions involved are moving slowly, Iraqi and company sources say. Growth has been the hallmark of Iraq's oil production in the past decade with a rise of over 2.5 million barrels per day to a peak of 4.71 million bpd in late 2016, Reuters assessments show.

After a decade planning the world’s largest floating gas export plant, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s supplies could get tapped by a competitor first. Shell and Japan’s Inpex Corp. are both targeting gas from a connected reservoir in Australia’s remote Browse Basin, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off its northwest coast, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Meeting its planned start up date this month would give Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project an edge over Shell’s Prelude LNG. “The difference between Prelude starting six months before versus six months after Ichthys could be a few percent of their reservoir stake,” Wood Mackenzie analyst Saul Kavonic said in an email.